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Iowa GOP works to hang onto seat

Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson plans to introduce a new bill to bring back the death penality.

Iowa GOP works to hang onto seat

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Updated: 8:22 AM CST Nov 17, 2013

Iowa Republicans hoping to recapture a majority in the state Senate next year must first hang on to a seat that is up for grabs this week in a special election.

Voters on Tuesday will decide who should represent Senate District 13, located south of Des Moines. The race pits Republican Rep. Julian Garret against former Democratic lawmaker Mark Davitt.

The Senate seat was vacated when former Sen. Kent Sorenson, a Republican from Milo, resigned after an independent investigator concluded he likely broke ethics rules in receiving money from presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's political action committee and presidential campaign. Sorenson has said his resignation wasn't an admission of wrongdoing.

The outcome of the election will not impact the control of the Senate, where Democrats hold 26 of the 50 seats.